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Palmolive Building (Chicago, Illinois)

USA / Illinois / Chicago / Chicago, Illinois / North Michigan Avenue, 919
 skyscraper, NRHP - National Register of Historic Places, Art Deco (architecture), radio beacon, 1929_construction

The Palmolive Building, formerly the Playboy Building, is a 37-story, 565-foot Art Deco building at 919 N. Michigan Avenue in Chicago. Built by Holabird & Root, it was completed in 1929 and was home to Colgate-Palmolive-Peet.

As the tallest building in Chicago at the time, it was selected to be the location for the Chicago rotating airway beacon designed to guide aircraft to the city. The beacon was added in 1930, came to be known as the "Lindbergh Beacon" to honor the famous aviator. The beacon, which was visible to pilots over 300 miles away, operated until 1981.

A much smaller-powered beacon was added in 2007, and is illuminated on special occasions, but most Chicagoans are oblivious to its original purpose. Due to frequent complaints by neighbors, the beacon only arcs out over Lake Michigan.

Previously called the Palmolive Building, it came to be known as the Playboy Building when it was home to Playboy magazine from 1965 to 1989.[2] During this time the word P-L-A-Y-B-O-Y was spelled out in 9-ft high letters. It was designated a Chicago Landmark in 2000, and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2003.

Today, the building has been converted for residential use by developer Draper and Kramer. The first two floors house upscale office and retail space. High-end condos make up the rest of the building. Perhaps its most famous residents are actor Vince Vaughn and former Cubs manager Lou Piniella.

usmodernist.org/AF/AF-1930-05-1.pdf
Nearby cities:
Coordinates:   41°53'59"N   87°37'24"W
This article was last modified 4 years ago